By G Arunima on February 20, 2014
I recently had the opportunity of going on a little tour of Melaten Friedhof, the municipal cemetery in Cologne. Etymologically the name Melaten is derived from ‘malade’, the French word for illness, as there used to be a hospital for leprosy patients, Maladen, on the site of the present cemetery. Until 1829, only the Catholics of the city could be buried here (they have always been the dominant community in Cologne); after that it was made available to Protestants too, and in principal, to all other communities.
